Our fourth prep challenge in March is to plant a vegetable garden and add items items to your 🎒 72-hour kit. Which month each person plants their garden will vary by location. If you don’t have much land for a garden, a patio garden can be successful. If you can’t plant a vegetable garden this year, don’t feel guilty. Circumstances don’t always make this challenge easy, however if you want to begin a garden, then dig in.

“We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yard. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters.”
PresidENt Spencer W. Kimball
Create a Vegetable Garden Plan
Large or small, any garden needs a plan.
- Do website research for your climate and decide which plants will do well in your climate.
- Choose a spot that gets about 6 hours of sunlight. However, according to HGTV, there are some plants that grow in the shade.
- Create a drawing of your garden and choose plants that will grow best in each area.
- Involve your family when you plant and care for your garden, so they learn the value of work and satisfaction.

Benefits of Having a Vegetable Garden
- A garden “expands our appreciation of nature, teaches the family to work together, helps us be less dependent on others for food, adds nutritious food to our diet and gives us opportunities to save money and help those in need.” (The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part A)

Helpful Books & Articles
- Gardening with Less Water
- Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners
- Vegetable Gardening for Beginners
- The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible
- Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space
- All New Square Foot Gardening
- Family Preparedness – by President Spencer W. Kimball
- Gardening – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Family Gardens – Church News
- SquareFootGarden.org
- extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden – Sign up for garden tips
ADD ITEMS TO YOUR 72-HOUR KIT
Here are some items to add to your 72-hour kit.
I love getting my hands in the soil and hope you enjoy planting your vegetable garden.
Best wishes and stay focused,
Valerie Albrechtsen
The Food Storage Organizer
Purchase my food storage and emergency preparedness items in my Etsy shop.
